Chapter 134: Legacy of the Iron Fist (3)

In the center of a vast cavern floated a pair of gauntlets, suspended in midair, radiating an eerie blue glow. Just the overwhelming aura seeping out of them was enough to make even someone completely ignorant about artifacts think these gauntlets were something extraordinary.

Berald stared at it and said, “Brother, that thing…”

“No way!”

The same name flashed across all our minds at once as we looked at the gauntlets.

“Could it be… the Legacy of IronFist?”

The name of one of the Great Five Heroes who had sealed away the Demon God and saved humanity five centuries ago, Iron Fist Ryu Jin-Sung, brushed through my thoughts.

I stared at the gauntlets, floating in the air, my expression tangled with confusion. “But… Why is it here?”

What the hell was going on? In my previous life, I had cleared these very ruins with Yuren, Berald, Iris, and Senior Sophia. It had been the first ruin we had challenged as a party, so we had scoured every nook and cranny, and we even discovered the hidden passage that Berald had stumbled upon. But back then, nothing was here.

Sure, when we had first entered these ruins, it was ten years later in reference to the current time, and someone could have taken the gauntlets away during those ten years. However, the problem was that we were the first ones to open these ruins. We had been the ones to gather the scattered sealing stones across the canyon and open the gate to this ruin that had been sealed away for five centuries.

We even defeated the Guardians. These golems were naturally formed by the ruins, and once destroyed, they never respawned. If someone had entered before us and taken the Legacy of Iron Fist, then ten years later, the Guardians shouldn’t have been intact.

Has the future changed? I wondered.

No. I slowly shook my head. If something that existed had vanished, that could have happened due to a shift in the timeline. But something that never existed suddenly appearing? That had nothing to do with changes to the future.

Berald looked to me. “B-Brother, may I try touching those gauntlets?”

I pulled Berald back. “Hold on. If anyone’s going to touch them, it’ll be me.”

As I stepped forward, I thought, If only Professor Baldwin were here at times like this.

However, there was no way to summon her now.

Without turning around, I said, “Iris. Just in case, cast a protective spell in advance.”

“B-but if I do that, then you’ll be left out, Dale.”

Since I was standing outside the formation’s range, if she cast the spell now, I would be the only one left unprotected.

I swallowed a chuckle and glanced at her. “I’ll be fine.”

I didn’t bother to say anything more.

Iris reluctantly stepped back, her expression sour. “Alright.”

She began chanting an incantation.

I let out a short breath, then stepped toward the gauntlets floating at the center of the cavern. They were crafted of dark-blue metal. Each joint was wrought with exquisite workmanship, built to move as naturally as living fingers, and around them crackled arcs of blue lightning.

That lightning, why does it feel familiar? I wondered.

Setting the thought aside, I reached out my hand. Blue sparks erupted violently, and the cavern shook as if struck by an earthquake.

“D-Dale!” Yurina shouted.

I waved to her. “I’m fine.”

I studied the gauntlets again. These gauntlets were definitely serving as the core of the ruin. The tremors across the cavern matched their reaction to my touch. Lightning arced wildly from the gauntlets as I reached out again. Then, thunder boomed as a surge of magical energy blasted outward. An ordinary person would have been incinerated by that storm of blue lightning the instant they touched it.

However, I was no ordinary person. “Tch. Acting up, are you?”

Flames burst from me, burning away the magic barrier that protected the gauntlets. “Hup!”

I pulled the gauntlets free, and the tremors subsided at once, as if the ruin itself had been switched off.

The others, who had been waiting anxiously at a distance, rushed toward me.

“I-is, is it over?”

“Are you alright, Dale?”

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

I nodded and gave the gauntlets a light shake in my hand.

Even Camilla, who always preached that a true warrior must never choose their weapon based on appearances, looked at the gauntlets with clear interest. “So that’s the Legacy of Iron Fist?”

The temptation of the Legacy was too great even for her.

“Seems like it,” I replied.

Who would’ve thought we would obtain the Legacy of Iron Fist, the relic countless heroes had searched for over five centuries, like this?

Berald’s face was flushed with excitement, his breath steaming out in bursts. “T-the Legacy of Iron Fist? Brother, this is truly monumental!”

Now that I recalled, even in my previous life, Berald had been the most obsessed with exploring these ruins. Well, it made sense. For a combatant who fought with his fists, the Legacy of Iron Fist was the ultimate dream. After all, Iron Fist Ryu Jin-Sung was the legendary warrior who had crushed tens of thousands of the Demon God’s army with his bare hands.

I held out the gauntlets to him. “Here. You take it, Berald.”

Berald’s eyes went wide as he stared at me. “Take it? Y-you mean… me?”

“Who else here could actually make use of these gauntlets besides you?”

He was so shocked he could barely string his words together. “B-but, Brother, you practice hand-to-hand combat too, don’t you?”

I replied, “I do, but my main weapon is the sword. Wearing gauntlets would only get in the way when I swing it.”

Moreover, with the overwhelming power of the Ashen Flames at my disposal, I hardly needed to rely on an artifact’s abilities. If I forced myself to use it recklessly, it could even make me weaker instead. Therefore, among us, Berald was the one who best suited the Legacy of the Iron Fist.

His eyes trembled as he stared at the gauntlet. “R-really? Do I truly deserve to have this?”

I turned my head slightly, glancing at the rest of the party. Yurina, Camilla, and Iris each gave a small nod, showing their agreement that Berald should be the one to inherit it.

“Well, besides, even if Iron Fist Ryu Jin-Sung isn’t your direct ancestor, it’s not like you have no connection at all,” I said.

The founder of the current Ryu family, Ryu Jin-Hyuk, was Ryu Jin-Sung’s younger brother. That made Berald’s lineage somewhat connected. Actually, truth be told, the two were bitter enemies. But what did that matter? They had been dead for centuries; their relationship, whether as brothers or foes, was irrelevant now.

Berald turned to all of us. “T-thank you! Thank you, Brother Dale! And Brother Yuren! Sister Iris! Sister Camilla!”

Everyone chimed in with lighthearted words, congratulating Berald.

“No need to thank us. I also think you’re the right one to have it,” Yurina replied.

“Ehmm. Don’t call me ‘sister.’ Call me ‘senior,’” Iris said.

“Hah, then can I call you Sister-in-law instead?” Berald replied.

His eyes shone like those of a child receiving the best birthday present of his life. “To think I would be the one to wield the Legacy of the Iron Fist!”

Watching him carefully lift the gauntlet, as though afraid he could drop it, I couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle. Seeing him this happy somehow made me feel good too. Perhaps this was the same feeling parents had when they went out of their way to buy their children gifts they could barely afford.

“May I try it on?” he asked.

“Of course. It’s yours now.”

Berald swallowed hard, then slid his hand into the gauntlet. The moment it clasped around his arm, arcs of blue lightning danced across the air.

Berald flexed his fingers, opening and closing his fist. “Ooooh—”

Suddenly, he curiously tilted his head. “Huh?”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“No, it’s just… now that I’m wearing it, it feels a bit… stiff.”

“Stiff?”

“Mm! How should I say it? Almost like it’s rusted.”

I held back from replying, thinking about what Berald just said.

He continued, “Heh. Well, considering it’s the Legacy of the Iron Fist, it must be over five hundred years old, right? A little rust is to be expected.”

No, that wasn’t right. An artifact revered as the Legacy of the Iron Fist rusting? That was impossible. Artifacts could break in battle, but them corroding over time was unthinkable.

In that instant, the puzzle pieces in my head snapped into place. “Wait.”

Why was the Legacy of the Iron Fist, which never appeared ten years from now, suddenly found inside these ruins? Why could it vanish ten years later without leaving the slightest trace of intrusion? Why would an artifact of such caliber show signs of corrosion?

Someone had been secretly draining the ruins of their mana. It was like poking a tiny hole into a fruit to sip out the juice inside. Most likely, someone who couldn’t open the entrance had instead drilled a hidden channel toward the ruin’s core, siphoning its mana little by little.

Ordinarily, such a feat would be impossible. Only one blessing could make it happen: the Blessing of Exploitation. And the wielder of this blessing was someone I was all too familiar with.

Suddenly, the sound of high heels echoed through the vast chamber. Then a voice rang out: “Well, well, I was wondering who the little rats sneaking into these ruins might be… Turns out it’s just some adorable little brats?”

A woman stepped into view, flaunting her figure with a dangerously revealing outfit, violet hair tumbling down like silk. She was undeniably stunning, yet the moment I laid eyes on her, what rang in my head wasn’t beautiful, but dangerous.

It was the Archbishop of Desire, Laxasia. She was one of the six who reigned at the very peak of the demons.

She approached us with a languid stride, lips curled in a wicked smile. Her tongue flicked across her lips as her gaze swept lazily around. “Hmm, let’s see, is there a handsome man here who suits my tastes—”

She froze when she saw Yurina, who was in Yuren’s disguise. “Oh? My, my, my! What do we have here? He’s perfectly my type!”

Her eyes sparkled as she let out an excited squeal, practically bouncing in place. “Well, well, little boy, what’s your name?”

Yurina hardened her expression as she gripped her sword hilt, clearly sensing the suffocating miasma radiating from Laxasia. “I have no intention of telling you.”

Wrapping her arms around herself, Laxasia shivered in delight, her gaze locked hungrily onto him. “Aahh! Oh my, even your voice is divine! It’s decided. You’ll be my precious pet, and I’ll spoil you endlessly.”

She didn’t even acknowledge the rest of us, as if we didn’t exist.

Unbelievable. She hasn’t changed one bit, I thought.

In my previous life, she had put on this same pathetic display, right before Yuren had sliced off her head.

“So? If you agree to become my pet, I’ll spare the lives of your little friends here,” Laxasia said.

Why? Why do those words make my blood boil, I wondered.

Laxasia continued, “Heheh. It’s not even such a bad deal, you know. Become mine, and I’ll grant you pleasures beyond heaven itself.”

I had seen this exact scene before. I knew how it ended. Yet the sight of her trying to seduce Yuren, or more precisely, Yurina, again filled me with unbearable rage.

“Come now, boy. I can fulfill every single one of your desires,” said the Archbishop.

I cut her off, stepping forward with a sharp glare. “Hey. And who the hell do you think you are, wagging your tail at my man?”

Wait. Now that I’ve said it out loud, that came out sounding a little strange.

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